Breathe Deeply
by ourania211
Summary: Scenes depicting the progression of the TonyMichelle relationship...


_**Disclaimer:** I don't claim to be of any affiliation with Fox, 24, etc….._

_Hey guys, this is my second story for 24. It's not going to be a story story, but rather it will be a collection of scenes from the progression of the Tony/Michelle relationship. Reviews would be GREATLY appreciated…thanks!_

Breathe Deeply: ChapterOne

She took a deep breath and held her head up high.

First impressions are key, her mother used to tell her, and she planned on making a damn good one. She needed this to go right because she wasn't sure there was anything else left for her. So that morning she had meticulously tucked her hair back, applied a generic balance of makeup, and dressed in a crisply ironed blouse. There was no longer any more room for error.

She pushed the glass door open and reminded herself that the only thing she could do was to try her hardest. If that wasn't good enough, then maybe she just wasn't cut out for this field. Her mother used to tell her that too.

As she entered the room she was immediately struck by how many people appeared to be moving and roaming about. This obviously was not strictly a desk job. She took comfort in that fact, and hoped that this would turn out to be much different than her last job.

"Hi, I'm Tony Almeida. Second in charge."

She gasped despite herself, inwardly scolding herself for not paying more careful attention to her surroundings, and gently shook the agent's outstretched hand.

"Oh, sorry! I was momentarily taken aback; this is very different from my last job at Division. And I'm Michelle Dessler, I'm supposed to meet with Director Mason at 10."

Tony chuckled. "Yeah I know, security called to inform me you were coming up so I thought I'd show you around a bit first. Mason's on the phone with our regional director and it'll probably take a while."

"Well, that would be great then. Thank you." Michelle smiled and followed Tony towards the center of the floor.

"So I'm guessing Division's a bit more, ehh..." Tony struggled to find the right word.

Michelle noticed him scratching his chin and offered up her own description. "Structured? Boring?" She added a smirk.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking." After a pause he added, "No offense."

"None taken. One of the many reasons I needed to get out of there."

"Well, I think you're going to find CTU much different. In many different ways."

"How so?"

"Well for one, everyone works together. There's usually no one person assigned to a specific task. This way things get done more quickly and efficiently. That's why you'll constantly be moving around and collaborating with everyone else. Oh, and we try to assign most of the paperwork to the lower-level staffers."

Michelle chuckled. "I like the idea of that."

Tony stopped at a workstation situated left of the center console.

"This is your station here. As the number three in command, you'll be working directly under me. My station is right there on the other side and if I'm not there you can probably find me in the break room."

"And that would be - "

Tony cut her off. "Next to the stairs over there that lead up to the director's office. I'm a caffeine addict." He smiled.

"Me too." Michelle reciprocated his smile, which she noticed she seemed to have been doing a lot of since she walked in.

Tony looked up towards the stairs. "Ah, it looks like Mason just finished his conference. Ready to head on up?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, " she replied as they began to walk over.

"Don't worry about it. You're going to like Mason, he's a real easy-going guy. And I'm sure you'll feel right in place this time next week."

"Thanks."

They reached the top of the stairs and Tony knocked and opened the door for her before making his way back down to the floor.

* * *

Michelle entered her apartment, tossed her keys on the hall table, and collapsed on the couch. It had been an exhausting day, familiarizing herself with a new system and meeting many new coworkers. She thought she had made a good impression on everyone – she had been friendly, very professional, and showed there was a reason she was entering CTU at such a high-level position. However, she knew there was no way she would be able to remember everyone's names the next day, as memorization was not her forte.

The one name Michelle knew she wouldn't be able to forget though was Tony. She tried to tell herself it was because he was the first one who introduced himself to her, but she had the feeling it was something more than that. _He's definitely cute_, she thought. _He seems really grounded and down-to-earth…not to mention funny…and those eyes…Stop!_

She knew she could not at any cost get into a relationship with a coworker. However much it seemed she had clicked with Tony throughout the day, she forced herself to believe that it could only be a working relationship and she could not get involved. Tony had been instrumental in helping her make a favorable first impression – introducing her to all the agents and analysts, helping her learn the system, and basically guiding the way through her first day - but relationships and friendships at Division had caused too many problems for her, and it was one of the main reasons why she had left. As sleep began to overcome her and she leaned her head back on the armrest, Michelle willed that she would not allow work and relationships to mix, and that she would not create any more problems for herself.

* * *

At about the same time Michelle was falling asleep, Tony was finishing up the day's status report and getting ready to head home. It had been a long day, with a bundle of new intel reports and a new analyst coming in. _Michelle…oh Michelle,_ Tony thought. He was attracted to her, he admitted that much. But he forced himself to diminish any thoughts of ever having a relationship with her. _C-mon Tony, remember Nina? You said you wouldn't mix work and personal anymore. And she's from Division…you hate Division!_

Despite himself, Tony couldn't will the attraction away. There was something there, but he was determined not to act on it. He had been hurt too many times, and he could not take the chance again. _Look what it did to Teri…you stupid fool, Tony._

Upon the thought of Teri entering his mind, Tony immediately tried to divert his thoughts elsewhere. He couldn't think about it. He didn't want to think about it. He turned on the TV to some mindless law show and tried to get himself submerged in something else besides that day. He didn't know what else to do.


End file.
